THE NATION.

Virginia sets standards to save farmland

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Drive south beyond the mix of new homes, businesses and the handful of remaining farms in Suffolk's northern end and you'll find a rural area with farmland reaching to the horizon in every direction.

Now imagine doubling the 70,000 acres of farmland that still remain in Suffolk.

That's about how much farmland Virginia lost between 1997 and 2002, according to the recently released Census of Agriculture.

Discouraged by such numbers, Virginia agriculture leaders will join the growing ranks of states making a concerted effort to protect farmland from development. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services rolled out guidelines last week that counties and cities can adopt as a blueprint for farmland preservation.

Such a program pays a farmer over a period of several decades in exchange for a binding agreement that the land cannot be sold for development. With the state guidelines, local governments will have a written blueprint for a program but will still have to find a way to pay for it.

Some have criticized protection programs as too cumbersome and costly to be effective. But advocates say they are necessary.

"It's really a philosophical decision and quality of life decision for the whole state," said Elaine Lidholm, department spokeswoman. "How much of the state are we willing to pave over?"

Agriculture leaders have been studying the issue for some time, urged on by a number of colliding trends. The average age of the Virginia farmer is near 60, and surveys have shown many do not have a family member or successor lined up to take over the farm.

A Virginia Tech study done in the late 1990s predicted that 70 percent of the state's farmland would change hands over the next 15 years, Lidholm said.

"That got everybody's attention," she said. "And, of course, six of those years have gone by."

The department's guidelines outline what is called a Purchase of Development Rights program. Virginia Beach was the first city in the state to start one on its own, and James City County followed. Isle of Wight County elected officials studied starting a program this spring.

Virginia Beach and James City are two of only five existing programs in the state. James City has enrolled four landowners since starting its program in 2001, while Virginia Beach has bought $22 million in development rights since 1995 to protect about 6,800 acres.

Lidholm said several other counties already have expressed interest, including Isle of Wight and several counties in the Shenandoah Valley.

"I think it's one essential tool," said Robyn Miller, spokeswoman for American Farmland Trust, a non-profit dedicated to saving farmland. "It's not an answer to everything. But if a community wants to plan for a future that includes agriculture, this is an important tool to have."